Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
She nods hard.
“Do you deserve to come?”
She looks back at me. “Please,” she mutters, arching into my cock, my finger, her muscles tight around both. I curse myself because I can’t fucking resist her. When I slide my free hand to her clit, she cries out, her knees buckling. Her body squeezes around me, throbbing, forcing my release as I drape myself over her and empty into her tight heat.
We’re both panting when I pull out to flip her onto her back. I search her face, kiss her, watching her eyes as she looks into mine.
“I can’t be without you anymore. You know that, don’t you?” I ask.
She kisses me, then lets her head fall back as her mouth opens on a pant. I kiss her exposed throat, take her lower lip into my mouth and bite just hard enough to make her look at me again.
“Tell me you know that.”
“I do. I know.” She smiles, eyelids heavy.
I smile too. Everything I said is true, is right. She belongs to me as much as I belong to her. And I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt her—who tries to take her from me.
25
MADELENA
The next few weeks pass quietly. It’s strange, and I’m afraid to settle into the peace or to let my guard down, but things are good between Santos and me. We’ve seen his family a few times, but I get the feeling Santos is avoiding them as much as I always have. He won’t talk about why, but I know something has come up with Alexia’s murder that he doesn’t like. I heard him discussing it with Val one night. But that’s not all. There’s something else that’s weighing on him, and it has to do with Caius.
Santos sits watching me at the dining room table as I polish off the last bite of my second slice of lasagna, leftovers from the night before. He shakes his head, checks his watch and turns to me.
“Where do you put it?” he asks with a smile.
“Are you saying I eat a lot?” I ask, picking up my glass of water and drinking it before sitting back and rubbing my stomach.
“You can put it away for being so small.”
I flip him off.
He winks, then gets up and comes to me. Cupping the back of my head, he plants a kiss on my forehead. “We should go if you want to meet Odin in time. Unless you’d like another slice, of course.”
“Ha-ha.” I push back from the table. We’re meeting Odin at Uncle Jax’s house. It will be the first time I set foot inside since his death. The day is bright and sunny and although still cool, I swear I smell the promise of spring. It’s my favorite time of year, especially after winters in Avarice, which seem unending. Spring is hopeful. It’s a fresh start.
Val and another soldier accompany us in the SUV, and two others follow in a separate vehicle. Santos is always armed and always seems to be scanning the area, wherever we are and no matter how many men are with us. Since the day Bea Avery let him know she had someone following me, nothing has happened, and the few times we have been at Augustine’s, no members of the Avery family have been present.
I weigh the key to Uncle Jax’s house in the palm of my hand. Well, it’s not Uncle Jax’s anymore. It’s my house now.
“Ready?” Santos asks as we turn onto what feels like a miles-long driveway.
“Yep,” I say, although I’m not sure I will ever be ready. But Uncle Jax left me the house to be sure I was looked after, and I am grateful for that. For him.
Odin is leaning against his car when we reach the front entrance. I climb out of the SUV when we park, and he comes to me.
“Hey Maddy,” he says with a hug. He glances at the empty house. He is as anxious as I am. I can see it on his face, hear it in his voice.
“Are we late?”
“Nah. I just got here early.”
Santos greets him with a nod, and Odin does the same. Since the day at Mr. Jamison’s office, the two of them only talk in grunts at best. I like that Odin stands up to Santos, though. Santos is easily twice as big as my brother, but Odin isn’t cowed, and I think Santos respects that.
I roll my eyes at them anyway and head up to the door, the key heavy in my clammy hand as I slide it into the lock. I feel nauseous. Anxious. It’s strange being here. I take a deep breath in and turn the key, and the instant I open the door, the alarm starts its warning beep. I take one of the sheets of paper Mr. Jamison gave me and punch in the code to silence it.